Manufacture of stockings



L. S. 00X.

MANUFACTURE OF STOCKINGS.

(No Model.)

No. 250,207. Patented Nov. 29,1881.

FIG/.8.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS S. COX, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MANUFACTURE OF STOCKINGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 250,207, dated November29, 1881.

Application filed August 15, 1881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIS S. COX, a citizen of the United States,residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement inStockings, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to make a cut stocking of better shape, ofmore uniform elasiicity throughout the leg, ankle, and heel portions,and more comfortable to the wearer than ordinary stockings of thisclass. This object I attain in the manner which I will now proceed todescribe, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure l is a View illustrating the ordinary mode of making out hose,and Fig. 2 a View showing my improved stocking and mode of making thesame.

Prior to my invention the common mode of making out hose was to knit anarrow tube of a fabric of about the same diameter as the ankle portionof the desired stocking, to form the heel and foot of a piece of thetube by cutting, folding, and sewing, so as to make the stockiug-blank,Fig. 1, which has a cylindrical leg. The next step was to convert thisleg and the heel into the proper shape, and this was done by drawing thestocking-blank over a pressboard or former, so as to distend the tube atthe calf, heel, and foot, as indicated by dotted lines in the saidfigure, and, finally, to induce the stocking to retain the shape towhich it had been thus stretched by heat and pressure. This, of course,is an imperfect stocking, as it is not of the same elasticitythroughout, the ankle portion, which has not been stretched, beingelastic enough, but the fabric at the calf and heel being deprived (moreor less) of its elasticity by stretching the tube on the former. Idiscard this old plan of making out hose, and use a knitted tube of thesame diameter as the upper portion of the leg of the desired stocking,A, Fig. 2, being the portion of the tube for the leg of the stocking,and the lower portion of the tube being converted into the heel and (Nomodel.)

foot of the stocking, preferably according to the plan described in thepatent of J. H. Osborne, No. 242,684, June 7,1881. A stockingblank isthus formed which has more fabric than is necessary, and I proceed toremove this surplus fabric by cutting the blank on the dotted line m,Fig. 2, and finally unite the severed edges by means of a sewing orseaming machine, the line on which the fabric is severed reducing theleg and heel of the stocking to the desired shape.

By my improvement I produce a stocking of the proper shape withoutresorting to the usual stretching, and the stocking, being of uniformelasticity throughout, is a cheap and acceptable substitute l'or themore expensive stockings, which are known in the trade as full fashionedor full regular made, and which are made by the tedious and costlyprocess of varying the width of the fabric in the machine during theprocess of knitting.

I claim as my invention- 1. The improvement in the manufacture of outstockings, which consists in first making a stocking-blank the leg ofwhich consists of an unbroken or continuous tube of knitted fabric ofthe same diameter as the upper portion of the leg of the desiredstocking, then cutting away the rear of the tube to the desired shape ofthe calf, ankle, and heel, and finally seaming the severed edges, allsubstantially set forth.

2. As a new article of manufacture, the within-described out and seamedstocking, in which the upper portion of the leg is composed of anunbroken tube, and the calf, ankle, and heel are formed by cutting andseaming said tube at the rear, as'set forth.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

LEWIS S. COX.

Witnesses:

HARRY DRURY, HARRY SMITH.

